The Wine Economist-Inside Argetinean Wine: Vino Argentino

A review of Vino Argentino: An Insider’s Guide to the Wines and Wine Country of Argentina by Laura Catena. (Chronicle Books, 2010.) Photographs by Sara Remington.I’m making plans for some fieldwork in Argentina next year and so I was very pleased when Laura Catena’s new book arrived in the mail. I think it is the perfect reference for anyone interested in Argentinean wine or planning a visit to the vineyards there.Laura Catena is part of Argentina’s most important winemaking family. Her father Nicolás is Argentina’s Robert Mondavi. He helped reinvent Argentinean wine at about the same time that Robert Mondavi was leading the Napa Valley revolution. Laura has been an active member of the family wine business Bodega Catena Zapata (serving as research director at one point) and owns her own winery, Luca, which is named for her son. Somehow she also finds time to be a practicing physician. Mother, doctor, winery owner and now author. too. I think she must have a lot of energy!